Matthew has helped you cook dinner every night for the last week. You got caught up in traffic coming home from work tonight, making you arrive home a bit later than usual. You drop your backpack in the guest house then head to the kitchen in the main house to get started on dinner. To your surprise, Matthew is already in there, chopping up some veggies.
"Short day today?" you ask, making him jump a bit. "Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you," you apologize with a laugh.
"Yeah, Karen's still at the studio, but they didn't need me anymore. Long day today?" he asks.
"No, just traffic," you explain.
"Traffic? In LA? You're kidding."
"Haha, very funny. What's cookin', good lookin'?"
"I was thinking stir fry? Karen said not to wait up and I'm starving so I thought I'd get started without you."
"Sounds delicious. Beer?" you ask, opening up the fridge door and grabbing a couple bottles, knowing he'll say yes.
"Yeah, can you grab the bell pepper for me while you're in there?" he asks.
"Yes, chef." You find the bell pepper, tossing it to him as you go to pop the tops off the beers. You set a bottle on the counter in front of him as you take a long drag from your own drink. "What can I do?"
"Absolutely nothing. I've got it covered tonight," he dismisses you.
"Okay, boss man. Trying to impress me or something?" you joke.
"Actually, yes," he answers, taking a second to look up from the cutting board.
"Really?" you question, kind of taken a back. Sure, the two of you have been a bit flirty with each other since that first night, but you weren't expecting this.
"Uh, yeah, really. If that's okay?" he checks. You notice his cheeks flush a bit as he turns his head back to the vegetables.
"Yeah, that's definitely okay," you answer, getting weirdly shy all of the sudden. You climb onto a barstool at the island and prop your chin up on your hand. You put on some music and just watch Matthew cook and hum along.
He finishes up and the two of you sit down at the dining table across from one another and dig in. You're idly chatting between bites when you can't help but ask, "is this a date?"
"Do you want it to be?" Matthew asks, setting his fork down to give you his full attention.
"I do," you say with a smile, biting down on your fork.
"Then it's a date," he confirms, giving you a huge goofy grin.
*****
After dinner is finished and all cleaned up, the two of you find yourselves out on the back patio, like usual. You've cracked open the new bottle of whiskey Matthew bought that afternoon and are enjoying it on the couch. You end up laying across the couch with your head resting on a pillow in Matthew's lap as he plays with a single strand of your hair. You can't help how relaxed you feel and a yawn escapes your mouth.
"Tired?" Matthew questions, tucking the hair behind your ear.
"No, just crazy comfortable. What time is it anyway?" you ask.
"9:32," he answers, taking a look at his wristwatch.
"Whoa, that's later than I was expecting."
"Yeah, is Karen even back yet?"
"No, and she probably won't be. She usually just sleeps at the office if it gets this late."
"Really? That doesn't sound ideal."
